Vision Impairment Linked With Long-Term Diabetes

NBCNews.com reports an alarming scientific finding--vision impairment related to diabetes is on the rise.

Together with his team, Dr. David Friedman from the Wilmer Eye Institute of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, discovered a link between nonrefractive vision impairment and diabetes from collated data provided by a national health and nutrition study, which showed that from 1999 to 2002, 1.4 percent of 9,471 adults surveyed suffered from the condition. The digits rose between 2005 and 2008, where 1.7 percent of 10,480 participants had vision problems.

At the same time, the number of people who have had diabetes for 10 years or more rose from 2.8 percent to 3.6 percent, and it seemed that those who developed the disease grew younger and younger as time went by; the number of adults with diabetes under 40 years old increased from 0.3 percent to 0.7 percent.

Nonrefractive vision impairment causes glaucoma and cataracts and can’t be corrected by glasses. For diabetes-related problems, eye fluids accumulate in the retina and make vision blurry, while blood vessels “grow in the back of the eye due to lack of oxygen” and cause sight loss.

Although a solid link cannot yet fully be established between the rise of eyesight issues and long-term diabetes, the study proves to be a warning to many people who take their health for granted especially at a young age. Although youth may give you the feeling of invincibility, your body’s wear and tear will eventually show in later years. Diabetic or not, it’s always a must to live a healthy lifestyle by eating right, exercising regularly, avoiding stress, and doing everything in moderation.